Congress leadership to be sued: CMSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, today
said that defamatory suits will be filed by his ministers
against the Congress leadership which had made
wild allegations against them in their
charge sheet against the BJP-HVC combine
government.

ROs list annoys Virbhadra
campSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The list of district returning officers
(DROs) released by the AICC today for holding the
organisational elections of the Congress in Himachal
Pradesh has annoyed the Virbhadra camp.

ABVP activists court arrest in HPSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The demand for holding elections to the
Students Central Association of the Himachal Pradesh
University gained further momentum today with hundreds of
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists courting
arrest all over the state here today.

Himachal to set up software parkSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The Himachal Government will soon set up a
high-speed data connectivity facility and a software
technology park here with the assistance of the Centre at
a cost of Rs 5.80 crore.

5 cr earmarked for tourism in
ManaliKULU, Sept
1  A sum of Rs 5 crore has been earmarked for the
development of infrastructure in Manali over a period of
five years. This was told by M.P. Vez Barua, Secretary,
Tourism, in an exclusive interview with this
correspondent at Apple Valley Resorts, here.

Include plastic money in IT Act:
expertSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The incorporation of chip technology in
credit cards and the inclusion of suitable provisions in
the Information Technology Act are essential to prevent
the increasing incidence of frauds involving plastic
money in the country, says Mr Shubhashis Dey, a forensic
expert and government examiner of questioned documents.

Protection of golden
mahseer soughtDHARAMSALA,
Sept 1  In order to prevent the extinction of the
golden mahseer fish from the Giri river in Sirmour
district, the Himachal Angling Association has demanded
the declaration of the 5 km stretch between the Renuka
bridge and the Jaton barrage as an angling
reserve.

Govt urged to enforce Architects
ActSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The Himachal Pradesh Centre of the Indian
Institute of Architects has urged the state government to
enforce the Architects Act, 1972, for planned development
and architecture.

Ayurvedic docs plea to CMNURPUR,
Sept 1  The Himachal Pradesh Ayurvedic Doctors
Association has taken exception to batchwise appointments
made by the Health Department of non-Himachalis having
ayurvedic diplomas or degrees with less than five
years duration.

2 killed as truck falls into khudPALAMPUR,
Sept 1  Two persons were killed and two seriously
injured when a Himachal Pradesh State Electricity
Boards truck fell into the Binwa khud, about 20 km
from here, yesterday.

Baijnath land case proceedings
fairDHARAMSALA,
Sept 1  Reacting to charges levelled by the Kangra
district Bar association, the settlement officer, Mr M.C.
Rana, today clarified that the proceedings in the
Baijnath land case were totally fair.

DD to extend telecast timeSHIMLA,
Sept 1  The local Doordarshan Kendra will extend
its transmission time from the present half an hour to
two hours from first week of October. This was informed
by the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr
Arun Jaitly, to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal
today, in response his request to increase the
transmission time from the kendra.

SHIMLA, Sept 1 
The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, today said that
defamatory suits will be filed by his ministers against
the Congress leadership which had made wild
allegations against them in their charge
sheet against the BJP-HVC combine government.

Mr Dhumal told the
Tribune News Service here today that the PWD Minister, Mr
Mohinder Singh, has already served notices to the
Congress Legislative Party leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh,
and other ministers against whom allegations of
corruption and misuse of office have been made will also
do so.

Mr Dhumal was reacting
to the charge sheet which the Congress had recently
submitted to the Governor. Allegations of corruption and
misuse of office were levelled against certain ministers.

He said that the
Congress leaders, who were now demanding immediate action
on the charge sheet, during their own regime had got
dumped at least eight charge sheets submitted
by various parties against them when they were in power.

The fate of the two
charge sheets, which he presented to the
Governor against the Virbhadra Singh government in his
capacity as president of the state BJP, was not known.
One of these charge sheets was submitted to
the Governor in 1995, but was forwarded to the Chief
Secretary by Raj Bhavan a year later in 1996, he claimed.

He said that the
charge sheets presented to the Governor by
the Samajwadi Party, the Himachal Vikas Manch and the
Janata Dal against the Congress government remained
unattended.

The Congress was divided
on the issue of charge sheet as some senior
party men abstained from participating in its
presentation to the Governor.

Referring to the killing
of two foreigners in the Kulu valley, the Chief Minister
said that the area would be combed for identifying those
foreigners who were residing there without valid
documents. Complaints had been received from the locals
that several foreigners were permanently residing in the
interior areas of the district and indulging in illegal
activities, including drug abuse.

SHIMLA, Sept 1 
The list of district returning officers (DROs) released
by the AICC today for holding the organisational
elections of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh has annoyed
the Virbhadra camp.

It is being alleged that
the list was loaded with supporters of the erstwhile camp
which was led by the HVC leader, Mr Sukh Ram, when he was
in the Congress.

Mr Virbhadra Singh has
himself described the list as lopsided and
unfair.

The DROs have been
appointed by the AICC on the recommendation of a
three-member Pradesh Election Authority headed by Mr
Hanumantha Rao. Mr Mangat Ram Sharma and Mr K.D.
Sultanpuri are the other members of the authority. It is
being said that Mrs Chandresh Kumari and Mr Anand Sharma
also had a say in these appointments.

On the other hand, the
dissidents were in an upbeat mood over the appointment of
their nominees as DROs. A dissident leader said that the
list was representative of all shades in the party.

Mr Virbhadra Singh, who
is in Delhi for his medical check up, told this
correspondent on telephone that It appears that an
attempt was being made by some persons to rig the
organisational polls. The party cadres will not allow
this to happened, he warned.

He said that with the
lopsided list of DROs it would be difficult
to hold free and fair elections for which Mrs Sonia
Gandhi had all along been emphasising.

Another Congress leader
said that the list was most un-representative and some
unknown activists of the Youth Congress had been
appointed DROs for the election of Congress stalwarts.

The list of 13 DROs
issued by the AICC has only five supporters of Mr
Virbhadra Singh.

His supporters are
taking exception to the appointment of Mr Aseem, a
functionary of the Youth Congress, as DRO of the Hamirpur
district where Mr Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, President of
the Youth Congress, was also in the race for being
elected to the PCC against a party stalwart, Mr Narain
Chand Parashar.

They are also
disappointed over the appointment of Mr Hoshiar Singh,
Vice-President of the Youth Congress, as the DRO for the
Mandi district where several senior partymen are in the
fray for the election. They have also not liked the
appointment of Mr K.C. Sharma as the DRO for Una.

The first meeting of the
newly appointed DROs has been convened here on September
4 to gear up the party machinery for the organisational
elections.

Sources said that the
DROs were appointed following consultations with each
senior party leader by members of the Pradesh Election
Authority which submitted its report to the AICC
yesterday.

SHIMLA, Sept 1 
The demand for holding elections to the Students Central
Association of the Himachal Pradesh University gained
further momentum today with hundreds of Akhil Bharatiya
Vidyarthi Parishad activists courting arrest all over the
state here today.

The police resorted a
mild cane charge as the agitation turned violent in the
state capital here. The protesters smashed the
windowpanes of two police buses after a scuffle with
securitymen.

A spokesman of the
parishad claimed that over 1500 members courted arrest in
various towns. The maximum number of 400 students courted
arrest at the state capital here. It was followed by
Hamirpur (200), Dharamsala (90), Solan (80), Sarkaghat
(60), and Jogindernagar (50). Besides rallies and dharnas
were organised at about two dozen places to press for its
demands.

The protesters,
including some girls, came in groups one after the other
and raised slogans defying the prohibitory orders in
front of a police post on the Mall. The police had a hard
time as slogan-shouting student appeared on the Mall from
nowhere after every hour since 2 p.m. today. Scuffles
ensured between the police and students every time. But
the police denied that the students were lathicharged and
there were only a minor scuffle when the protesters were
made to board the buses.

Besides holding of
immediate election to the Student Central Association,
the parishad is demanding withdrawal of the fee hike and
making English an optional subject instead compulsory up
to graduate level.

Meanwhile, the Student
Federation of India (SFI) also held a demonstration at
the university campus against what it termed as
unprovoked lathi charge on its activists during its
rasta roko stir here yesterday. The
protesters smashed a windowpane in the Vice-
Chancellors office. They also tried to break the
iron gate at the entrance.

The SFI is also
demanding elections to the Students Central Association
and withdrawal of fee hike.

SHIMLA, Sept 1 
The Himachal Government will soon set up a high-speed
data connectivity facility and a software technology park
here with the assistance of the Centre at a cost of Rs
5.80 crore.

Stating this at a
seminar on The role of Internet and classteacher
.com organised by Minervainfo yesterday, Mr P.K.
Dhumal, Chief Minister, said the state was already in the
process of signing an MoU with the Centre for the
purpose.

This would not only
attract investments in the IT sector, but would also
provide job opportunities to the local youth, he said.

The state government, Mr
Dhumal said, had invited the private sector to impart IT
education at the plus two level in 135 selected
government senior secondary schools. He said an optimal
student-computer ratio and adequate infrastructure would
be ensured in all the schools.

Mr Dhumal said the state
government had engaged the National Association of
Software Companies (NASSCOM) for the preparation of a
draft IT vision-2010. As per the document, the IT-enabled
services could emerge as a niche area in the state. The
report laid emphasis on the development of trained
manpower and appropriate infrastructure to facilitate the
growth of IT in the state and accordingly the government
had initiated certain steps in this direction.

A world class IT
institute with private sector initiative and having
technical collaboration with the University of California
at Berkley would come up soon at Rachiana in Solan
district. The B. Tech courses in IT would commence from
the academic year 2002. In addition to the graduate
courses, the institute would also have postgraduate
courses and short-term need-based courses.

The Chief Minister said
for electronic governance, the state government had
formulated a project through the National Information
Centre for creating networking at the state headquarters
and the district and block levels. The project, costing
Rs 7.10 crore, would be implemented in a phased manner
and was likely to be initiated during the current year.

Ms Ritu Gupta, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Minervainfo, said her mission
was to make technology fun for children through the
virtual school which offered comprehensive learning
platform where parents, teachers and students could
interact through the Internet.

The classteacher.com
also presented a cheque for Rs 20,000 to the Chief
Minister to provide stipends to meritorious students of
computers in schools and offered free services to 50
schools in Himachal Pradesh.

KULU, Sept 1  A
sum of Rs 5 crore has been earmarked for the development
of infrastructure in Manali over a period of five years.
This was told by M.P. Vez Barua, Secretary, Tourism, in
an exclusive interview with this correspondent at Apple
Valley Resorts, here.

Mr Barua said the
development of tourism in Kulu-Manali has to be
eco-friendly. He urged the hotel owners in Manali
to preserve ecology and beauty of the area conserve the
rich cultural and architectural heritage of the area. He
said he found Kulu and Manali to be among the most
picturesque places with very good potential for adventure
tourism. He said the ski resort at Solang would be
developed to international standards notwithstanding the
shortage of resources.

Mr Barua said he had
assured the Hoteliers Association at Manali that a
railway reservation office would soon be opened in Kulu
at the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation
Office.

Mr Barua, while replying
to a question regarding the murders of foreign tourists
in Kulu valley, said the matter of beefing up of security
would be taken up with the Home Ministry. He further
stressed that the tourists should hire government
approved travel agents or agencies for planning and
arranging their treks and should not rely on the wayside
guides.

Mr Balram Sharma,
Director, Tourism, Government of Himachal Pradesh, who
was accompanying Mr Barua, said a sum of Rs 30 crore had
been sanctioned by the 10th Finance Commission as a
special purpose grant for the expansion of three airports
and construction of four new helipads in the state. He
said Rs 27.5 crore had been earmarked for the expansion
of Shimla, Bhuntar and Gagal airports and Rs 2.5 crore
for the construction of new helipads. In addition to that
provision had been made in the budget of the state
government for Rs 1.5 crore for this purpose. He said Rs
10.5 crore had already been sanctioned for Bhuntar
airport

Mr Sharma said the
acquisition of land had become more expensive and an
estimated sum of Rs 5.5 crore would be required for that.

He said further
construction around the airstrip should be banned totally
so that the acquisition process was not hampered.
Haphazard construction has been made near the airstrip
and the landing and take-off points. Mr Barua, said
expansion of the airport would give a boost to tourism in
the area.

Include plastic money in IT Act:
expertFrom
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 1 
The incorporation of chip technology in credit cards and
the inclusion of suitable provisions in the Information
Technology Act are essential to prevent the increasing
incidence of frauds involving plastic money in the
country, says Mr Shubhashis Dey, a forensic expert and
government examiner of questioned documents.

The advent of plastic
money and the information technology revolution has
thrown up new challenges for the forensic scientists and
their role is no longer confined to studying and
analysing handwritings on questioned documents. They will
now have to function as fraud examiners to
help detect offences involving the cyberworld, computers
and plastic money, besides the usual frauds involving
printed or written documents, he told The Tribune here
yesterday.

As per authentic
estimates plastic money to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore
are in circulation in the country and of these over Rs
2,000 crore was involved in frauds. The main reason for
such a high incidence of frauds was mainly the failure of
the banks to include the necessary security features in
the credit cards. He said the best way to prevent the
misuse of credit cards or their duplication was to use
the chip technology which enabled the storage of
biometric features like fingerprint of hand geometry of
the holder. However, to use these cards the bankers would
have to install computer-based swipers for screening
which would require some additional expenditure. He said
the government must waive all duties and taxes to bring
down the cost of swipers, the use of which would instil
confidence of people in plastic money.

He lamented that the
recently enacted Information Technology Act did not cover
plastic money. Some provisions should have been
incorporated so that in case of their fraudulent use
deterrent action could be taken against the offender.

Similarly, legal
provisions were required to bring those involved in the
manufacture of fake cards to the book. The existing
provisions in the IPC were not enough to deal with such
offences directly. He said banks and other agencies
should consult forensic experts to get the desired
security features incorporated in not only credit cards,
but also cheques, drafts, travellers cheques and other
financial instruments to prevent frauds.

The legal validation of
digital signatures and the increasing use of e-commerce
in business, a whole new area of computer-based crimes
had emerged. His department was gearing up to meet the
challenge and it was acquiring forensic tools like
computer-crime analysis facility to take care of such
offences. This state of the art facility would enable the
forensic experts to make out whether information had been
deleted or added, which part of the computer was involved
and also whether the hacker gained access through
Internet or some other mode.

The forensic science
laboratory in Calcutta had established the much needed
DNA mapping facility and was much currently preparing a
data bank so that the state of art technology could be
effectively used for crime detection. In all genetic
profile of 85,000 persons belonging to different parts of
the country would be prepared. The country had been
divided into seven parts for the purpose. Once the
project was completed the DNA mapping would provide vital
clues regarding the identity of the offender.

The forensic laboratory
here has been organising training courses for vigilance
officers, banks, police officers, doctors and judges to
acquaint them with finer nuances of fraud documents.

DHARAMSALA, Sept 1
 In order to prevent the extinction of the golden
mahseer fish from the Giri river in Sirmour district, the
Himachal Angling Association has demanded the declaration
of the 5 km stretch between the Renuka bridge and the
Jaton barrage as an angling reserve.

In a statement here
today, the secretary-general of the association, Mr K.B.
Ralhan, said due to ecological erosion, illegal fishing
and the construction of barriers for hydel-power projects
free migration of the fish for breeding and feeding had
been checked.

He regretted that the
state Fisheries Department had so far done nothing to
develop technology for the production of mahseer seed
under controlled conditions, thus failing to release it
fingerlings in water stretches. He felt the need of
proper vigilance to check poaching of the fish.

He said the fish which
escaped from the Renuka lake into the river was caught
even before it got a chance to breed in the river. He
added that the Fisheries Department had failed to spread
awareness among the local pradhans and zila parishad
members for their help in the conservation programme.

NURPUR, Sept 1 
The Himachal Pradesh Ayurvedic Doctors Association has
taken exception to batchwise appointments made by the
Health Department of non-Himachalis having ayurvedic
diplomas or degrees with less than five years
duration.

Mr Sanjay Guleria, state
president of the association in a memorandum to the Chief
Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, demanded scrutiny of such
appointments.

He alleged that in a few
cases bogus domiciles were produced by non-Himachalis to
get government jobs in the Health Department. He lamented
that such appointments were an injustice to the
unemployed ayurvedic graduates who had valid degrees with
five years duration and recognition of the Central
Council of Indian Medicine.

PALAMPUR, Sept 1 
Two persons were killed and two seriously injured when a
Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Boards truck
fell into the Binwa khud, about 20 km from here,
yesterday.

According to reports,
there were four occupants in the truck. Darshan Singh and
Ashwani, driver and conductor, respectively, died on the
spot.

An official of the HPSEB
told reporters that the truck which was carrying
equipment was on its way to Binwa Power House, Utrala.
When it reached Harehar village, the driver lost control
of the vehicle.

The injured have been
identified as Ajay Gautam, junior engineer, and Jagdish
Chand, foreman. They were admitted to Rajiv Gandhi State
Ayurvedic Hospital, Paprola.

DHARAMSALA, Sept 1
 Reacting to charges levelled by the Kangra
district Bar association, the settlement officer, Mr M.C.
Rana, today clarified that the proceedings in the
Baijnath land case were totally fair.

Mr Rana said the charges
levelled by the members of the Bar association that the
intervention of the Revenue Minister must have influenced
him to pass the partial order or extend favouritism was
wrong as they had not gone into the details of the case.

The lawyers have been on
strike against the giving of judicial powers to revenue
officers in the state.

As part of their ongoing
strike lawyers blocked traffic here today for over an
hour near the local police station.

SHIMLA, Sept 1 
The local Doordarshan Kendra will extend its transmission
time from the present half an hour to two hours from
first week of October. This was informed by the Union
Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr Arun Jaitly,
to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal today, in
response his request to increase the transmission time
from the kendra.

Mr Jaitly was likely to
inaugurate the extended programme. The Chief Minister
urged the Union Minister include a news bulletin in the
extended programme and also commission the earth station,
simultaneously so that the programmes could be viewed
throughout the state.

Mr Dhumal said that
Himachal Pradesh had a difficult hilly terrain and spread
over 55,673 sq km of area. Doordarshan programmes would
go a lone way in extending electronic media to far-flung
areas of the state.